Hello again, it’s time to get planting now that the holiday festivities are over. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and made the best of the season.

This is probably my favorite time of year for planting. There is still broccoli, kale, chard and carrots in the garden, even after that cold snap we had, but now I’m looking forward to the first spring peas. Lightly steamed with just a drizzle of butter, I think I look forward to this more than Christmas or my birthday!

So let’s talk about peas, and yes, now is the time to get the first planting in the ground. Peas are one of those plants that can take really cold weather and even light frosts. Technically, and it really isn’t all that technical, the planting instructions for peas say to plant them “as soon as the ground can be worked”. Since our ground never freezes that means we can plant them pretty much anytime all winter long. In fact, I know someone who always tries to get a December sowing in just in case we have a mild winter. I usually wait until January because I have found that the peas started in December and those started in January mature around the same time.

There are three main types of peas, English pod peas, Snow peas and Snap peas. Pod peas mature into plump, juicy –sweet berries contained in a tough pod. They need to be shelled before they are eaten and are the best for freezing. Snow peas are varieties that are picked just as the peas inside are beginning to mature. The pod remains tender and sweet so the entire pod in eaten, usually steamed or stir fried. These are the peas you find in Asian food. Snap peas are those peas that mature fat juicy peas as well as develop a thick, crunchy sweet pod and the entire pea is eaten, pod n’ all. These hardly ever make it to the house as they are the perfect snack when you are out working in the garden and kids really like them, so it’s a great variety to plant with the kids to get them into gardening and eating fresh veggies.

Planting is easy and only takes a bit of preparation. Peas aren’t very picky about their soil. It should drain well and have plenty of phosphorous and potash. A sprinkling of wood ash is a good addition and will supply both nutrients. Don’t overdo it and use only ash that is all wood, no garbage or plastic ash.

All of the varieties are available as tall climbers or as short bush types. Both types need to be trellised, although some say the bush types don’t. In my experience if you don’t support them some way they tend to fall over and get all tangled up once the peas begin to mature. So trellising is the first order of business. It can be anything from old fencing to willow twigs to fruit tree prunings. You can be really creative with this or you can just make it utilitarian. Once the trellis is up, I take the handle end of a hoe and scratch a shallow 2-3 inch trench into the soil on both sides along the trellis line. Scatter the peas in the trenches so that they are about an inch apart. Then cover the pea seeds with an inch or so of soil and tamp it down so that the soil is in full contact with the peas and water, depending on the weather they will be up in two or three weeks. Once they are up an inch or so, back fill with the rest of the soil covering the pea shoots so that the first set of leaves is above the soil line. Peas will make more roots on the covered over stem.

That is the traditional way to plant peas. For the last few years I have been using a technique handed down to me from some folks who have been growing food in our area for over 30 years. Instead of sowing the seeds raw and naked, they pre-sprout the seeds and then plant them. The advantage of pre-sprouting is that you can avoid damage from rotting seed if the weather turns cold, wet and rainy. There are several ways to pre-sprout your seed. The first is simply to soak them in warm water for a few days just as you would if you were making bean sprouts. Soak the seed overnight then drain them and let them sit someplace warm. Once a day re-soak them and then drain them. It will take several days but you will soon see the root coming out of the seed. Once this happens they are ready to plant. Gently scatter them in the trench and cover, being careful not to break or damage the baby root. Another way is to use a shallow plastic tray and fill it with potting soil or vermiculite. Scatter the seeds over the surface and cover them lightly with more soil or vermiculite. Water well and leave in a warm spot. Once they have sprouted their little roots and the first leaves are up you can plant them. Again, handle them gently, scatter them in the trench and cover with soil. It’s ok to cover the leaves, they will poke up through the soil, just be sure not to cover them too deeply.

It is often recommended to use pea inoculants either in the trench or to coat the seeds. The inoculant is called rhizobium and it is a mix of beneficial bacteria that help the seeds germinate and begin to fix nitrogen. Sometimes I use it and sometimes I don’t. I can’t honestly say that I see much of a difference either way. It is available from where ever your seeds come from.

On average a 100 foot row of peas will require 1-2 pounds of peas and will yield between 2-6 pounds of peas per 10 feet. It is suggested that you plant 40-60 feet of peas per each person in the house hold. That should give you plenty for fresh eating and freezing. I like to make succession plantings every 3 weeks so I have fresh peas for as long as possible. There are certain varieties that do better in the warmer weather and these are what I choose for my later plantings. The catalog descriptions will indicate if the peas are more or less tolerant of warm weather.

Try these reputable seed companies: Territorialseed.com, Johhnyseeds.com, seedsavers. com